The Pastor’s Pen – April 7, 2019

Six
days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he
had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served,
and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of
costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her
hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas
Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him),
said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and
the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared
about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used
to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She
bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always
have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Last week’s reading from the 15th
Chapter of the Gospel of Luke recounted the familiar story of what we commonly
refer to as the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
As in today’s reading the story dealt with the idea of wastefulness,
however it was from a very different perspective. Last week’s reading forced us to look at the
incredibly wasteful lifestyle of the younger son who squandered away his share
of his future inheritance. It then goes
on to tell of his father who received him with open arms and great joy upon his
return home…behavior which some, including the older brother, felt was itself
extravagant and to a degree wasteful.
And in looking at the story more closely I wondered if perhaps our own
lifestyles might in any way sometimes qualify
as ‘prodigal’…if the comforts and trinkets we surround ourselves with, which
far too often are produced in oppressive and abusive conditions in other parts
of the world should at all give us pause…and, if the knowledge of the
underlying human costs of that comfort moves us as people of faith to seek to
advocate for change towards more just systems of production overall and perhaps,
even less consumption.

So last week we focused on ‘waste’
in the traditional sense…as in taking, having, or using more than is needed,
more than is justified. We looked at
waste much the way we were taught to as children…as something negative to be
avoided as best we could. Sort of in the
way that underlies the old saying, ‘Waste
not, want not’. Which in both
today’s passage from John as well as the same story’s telling in the 26th
Chapter of Matthew is the prevailing position of both Judas and the other
disciples of Jesus.

All of them felt that Mary’s actions
in pouring out a flask of pure nard ointment upon the feet of Jesus was deeply
wasteful in this traditional sense of being excessive and unnecessary, or even
negative. And yet somehow Jesus had a
very different take on Mary’s sacrifice of love…so much so that it was recorded
as one of those interesting points throughout the gospels where particular
attention or emphasis is given to what often seems otherwise minor or
trivial. Jesus not only corrected the
disciples and Judas by celebrating the act of Mary but said as well that her
actions would forever be remembered wherever the gospel was preached. A seemingly small point…to us…but not to
Jesus. Why is that do you think?

A number of years ago, sometime in
the mid-eighties’ I think, I came across a book written by a Chinese theologian
and first published in the mid-fifties’.
The author was Nee to Sheng, a Christian living in China in the early
part of the 20th Century who came to be known as ‘Watchman
Nee’. The book I obtained of his was
titled, ‘The Normal Christian Life’. Perhaps it was the title that attracted me,
however I do not actually remember if or who recommended it, but one thing I
have always felt was that there is not much if anything that is ‘normal’ about
living a Christian life! But anyway, I
read the book with fascination as Watchman Nee dealt with very deep questions I
had long struggled with. But one
discussion in particular that caught my attention and has held it ever since
was a small essay towards the end in his chapter titled, ‘The Goal of the Gospel’. Within
that chapter, which was full of insight, was a study of this concept of ‘waste’ based on the reading we have
today from John. And ever since I first
read it, I have been challenged, inspired, and reminded as needed by the Spirit,
that wasting oneself on the Lord, as
did Mary there in the house of Lazarus, is in fact central to our relationship
with God and our responsibility as those called to bear witness to the grace
and love of our Lord. But what, you may
ask does that mean? How are we to live such
that God might see us as ‘wasting
ourselves or our lives on Him’?

Years ago, our youth choir at the
time was asked to sing and share at a small little Methodist church up in
Stamford NY, nestled in the middle of the Catskills. And for the occasion I wrote a song that we
shared with that church titled, ‘Small Little Church’, the first line of which
went, ‘We’re just a small little church
in the valley, with a great big love for our Lord…’. The song was intended as a nod both to them
as well as to our own congregation in Patterson. And I tell you this only because the song was
meant to be a reminder that the Lord always looks at the content of our hearts
and our faithfulness, and can work amazing wonders no matter the size of the
church or the congregation. For in
truth, there is nothing more valid or
more holy about a huge gathering of
souls, then there is wherever ‘two or
more are gathered together’.

I told you that Watchman Nee’s
treatment of this idea of ‘waste’ challenged me as well. And that is because whether it is the size of
a church, or the call to which you feel led by the Lord…no matter if you are a
pastor or employed in some other profession, no matter if you are a stay at
home parent or a school bus driver, no matter if you are young or not, if you
are retired or still in the workforce…

…whatever the Lord has asked of
you…whatever the Lord has set before you as the task He feels you are best equipped
to fulfil…

…that
is the place where you can give your all, where you can spend everything
you are in love and service. Wherever
the Lord has asked you to serve him, is exactly the place where the Lord needs ‘you’…exactly the place where you can ‘waste’
yourself on the Lord.

Each of us is the sum of our life’s
experience. Our ‘story’ is who we are…all of our great moments, as well as those we
do not wish to think much about. But
through it all, no matter what, good decisions or not, God has patiently been
molding and forming us into vessels for His work. Vessels into which he can pour His love and
grace that we might then be used by Him to share that same love with the world
around us. Who we are, the sum total of
all our experiences, is the raw material that God will use in ministering in
whatever places He feels the need to send us.
Our own struggles and our own victories are the marks upon us that the
Lord can use to comfort or to challenge others that He places before us…if we
are willing to be so used.

Which brings me back to this idea of
‘waste’. This chapter on the ‘Goal of the Gospel’ in Watchman Nee’s book resonated greatly with
me as I was early in my work life at the time dealing with questions we all
probably have when first starting out. I
had young children and so concern about the future and being able to provide
for them was a common concern and topic of discussion between my wife and
I. As with most I assume, I sought how
to secure the most income, the best health care, and all of the other comforts
of home and heart. I had done well in
school and had a good position in a local company and had not yet decided or
even considered going to seminary or becoming a pastor. That decision wouldn’t
come for almost twenty years. And as I
had since I was a young boy, I continued to worship in the same small church.

And it would be nice to try and pin
the blame for my inner frequent disquiet on someone else, but in fairness it
was deep within myself that I long questioned if who I was, and what I had was
being put to the most profitable use…if I couldn’t do more perhaps in another
place that would make me more successful or even just better able to provide
for my family. Which is probably not all
that uncommon for anyone to wonder about.

My problem however is that I always
believed that somewhere and somehow the Lord was in charge of my life…and that
the Lord would lead me in whatever direction He felt I could best be used. I was not allowed to second guess or to
suggest that perhaps the Lord might need my help in laying out the path before
me, but rather always felt that I had to listen and to walk in the ways that
seemed to open up before me.

In other words, the value of my life
and of my life’s work was not for me to construct or to manage but rather would
be determined by how much I surrendered my concerns and fears, my hopes and
dreams over to this One I claimed to follow.
The ‘values’ we tend to assign to someone’s life or to their
contributions, the ways we evaluate and judge another’s success were not
something I was supposed to focus on.
But rather I was only to seek to remain in the center of the path put
before me and to do all that I was able there.
The size of my salary or my bank account, the size of a church
congregation or the location of it, the things the world uses to measure
success were not to be my concerns. I
was to take whatever I was…all that I was…all that the Lord had long blessed me
with…and ‘waste’ it on this One I sought to follow…wherever I was led…and whatever
the cost.

I think somewhere all of us have had
the thought that we could have done better or we could have done more…that the
sum of our life was or is not as valuable as we might wish it was or could
be. Probably all of us have regrets and
maybe for good reasons. And I am also
pretty sure we have all fielded questions from well-meaning friends or family
who were just so sure we could have or should have done more or become more
given what they think are our abilities or talents. However, in truth, anything we have ever done
or sought to be for the Lord our God, has a value that is without price in his
eyes. Anything, and everything that we
take and place before the Lord for the
Lord’s use becomes a blessing extended…as well as received.

For in the end it is all about being
able to stand tall knowing we have done everything we could to serve one
another in love. It is all about being
able to hear our Lord one day say to us, ‘Well
done, good and faithful servant’. If
we can find our way to giving all we have, and all we are into the hands of our
Lord…if we surrender everything without
condition…if we, in the eyes of the world, completely waste ourselves on the Lord and follow along behind this
man who walked to Calvary…then indeed we will have ‘sought first the Kingdom of God and His justice’, and indeed as
well we shall have ‘received everything
we needed along the way’.

If we waste ourselves on God…we shall
be filled…and the world shall be saved
through our Lord’s use of our surrender.
If however, we waste not…and hold back unto ourselves whatever we feel
we may need…then we shall indeed want…for
everything!